


Futures that changes

by Rogercat



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Memories, Cousins, Early in Canon, Edoras, F/M, First Meetings, Gondor, Growing Up, Pre-Canon, Rohan, talks of marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 14:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16176653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogercat/pseuds/Rogercat
Summary: some future spouses can meet early in life, even if they are not planned to be set up together in marriage





	Futures that changes

**Author's Note:**

> I blame inspiration on the early parts of the song "This is my idea" from the 1994 movie Swan Princess for this

Year 2999 of the Third Age, Edoras: 

 

“A possible marriage offer?” nine-year-old Éomer asked, mirroring the confused look which his four-year-old little sister Éowyn wore in her face, where she had stopped playing with a wooden toy sword that actually belonged to her brother. Their older cousin Théodred, a full grown man on twenty-one years, nodded. 

 

“The Steward of Gondor is the one giving the offer to my father. He have two sons, and while he have no daughters of his own, his brother-in-law, the Prince of Dol Amroth, got a daughter earlier this spring and likely hopes that Father may remarry despite being a widower since my mother died at my birth…” 

 

“But you can not marry a  _ baby _ , cousin! It would look silly at the wedding, someone would have to carry her during the whole ceremony because babies is so small! And it is said to bring bad luck if the bride weeps during the wedding, babies cries a lot so it would not be good omens for either you or the Princess!” Éowyn spoke up, recalling a wedding ceremony between two loyal servants and some of the servant women's babies at the home of her parents. 

 

Théodred had to bend down in laughter over how silly that mental image looked, even Éomer found it funny to imagine a such wedding. 

 

“Fair reason for postpone the wedding until that she is older, little cousin. That is, she could be a bride to either me or Éomer, and the Steward suggested that you might be a bride for one of his sons since I have no sisters of my own…” 

 

Théodred got a pillow tossed in his face before he could finish speaking. 

 

“ **_NO!! I am not marrying one of them! I AM NOT, AM NOT!!_ ** ” Éowyn protested rather loudly, her tiny feet echoing as she rushed down the halls of Meduseld to find her mother Théodwyn for comfort, her brother and cousin hurrying after her to explain the reason to why she acted like that if someone wondered. 

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Year 3005 of the Third Age:

 

Being the first time she travelled somewhere than Minas Tirith, Lothíriel was nervous, and why not? She was only six years old, and outside a few familiar servants, the only people she knew in her escort was her older cousins Boromir and Faramir.

 

“Why does the Steward insist on me meeting the Prince of Rohan? I mean, he is so much older than me! I can not stand as a bride for at least six years yet, and I would need even more years before I can give him a heir of his own!”

 

That information came from a helpful maid who had explained to Lothíriel in easy-to-understand words that being very young at the first pregnancy was not good for either the young mother or the baby. So no, Lothíriel could not try and have a baby within a year of her wedding if she was wed soon after the first signs of womanhood.    

 

“Well, you could help us in making friends with the Prince and his younger cousins, I believe the youngest one is a girl, at least.” 

 

Faramir's honest attempt to soothe her worries only grew worse at Boromir mentioning that the Princess of Rohan was already ten years, and Lothíriel's heart fell sightly. Was she always to remain the youngest? She was not of fail health or so, rather the opposite, but other girls did not share her love for climbing trees or riding more wildly than what young ladies of noble status should do on ponies, finding her odd and someone to tease.

  
  


After that awkward first meeting, not helped by that Lothíriel had insisted on galloping first into Edoras on her pony despite the protests of her nurse, things seemed to go better as the days passed. 

 

Théodred was nice and offered a lot of help as teacher in some riding lessons he gave her, yes, but being a whole twenty-one years older than her made Lothíriel unsure about a possible marriage between them. If they married when she was fifteen, he would already be thirty-six years at the time. No, his cousin Éomer was more fun to play with, if only because he have a better guess on how to deal with girls because he had a sister.  

 

“Look at Éowyn, I would almost feel sorry for the younger son of the Steward in how energetic she is around him, if he was not the one to help her with explaining things,” Théodred smiled as Faramir showed off some great patience by helping her writing down the tales from Lothíriel's book of bed-stories for small children. Even if the Kings and elite could write and read, the Rohirrim did prefer oral tradition when it came to stories.

 

Éomer, who had been helping Lothíriel down after somehow getting stuck on the very straw roof of Meduseld because she wanted to help a baby bird back to its nest, seated himself beside his cousin. 

 

“Well, even if there is no marriage between us and Gondor in the future, we can at least look back to those days and enjoy the memory….ai, she is getting herself into trouble again!” Éomer said at spotting poor Lothíriel slipping down in the mud downhill, her little arms waving while trying to regain her balance as she cried out in surprise. 

 

“At least you will give a good impression on a special little lady!” Théodred called in good humour after his cousin, since Éomer was quicker than him in rushing up and running after Lothíriel. It was a pretty funny sight, the future Third Marshal of the Riddermark doing his best to rescue a nine year younger girl who herself did her best to not fall face down in the mud the closer she slipped to the area where one of the water wells was.  

 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

 

Early summer of year 3019 of the Third Age, Minas Tirith; 

 

“It is only sad that Boromir, uncle Théoden and Théodred could not hear about this blessed news,” Éomer smiled at his sister, where she stood beside Faramir, having just told him that they had fallen in love and wished to marry at some point in the future. Personally Éomer was happy for his sister, she had been carrying a lot of sorrows over the last years, needing to care for Théoden as he fell under the spell of Saruman and the unwelcome attention from Wormtongue when Éomer could not watch over her all the time. And the death of their cousin had given her one less male relative to ask for help if she needed it. With Faramir as a husband, Éomer would not need to worry about her as much anymore. 

 

Just as Éomer turned around, a cry of surprise was heard somewhere and he got a glimpse of a green dress before someone did fall into his arms. A mass of dark hair blocked the sight temporary for him. 

 

“Lothíriel! Did you slip in the mud again after the rain last night?” Faramir wondered at recognizing his own cousin, now a fully grown woman of twenty. 

 

“My old nurse insisted on those court slippers while we are there….” 

 

Lothíriel went quiet, and blushed rather heavy at seeing who that had caught her. A old memory from childhood came to the surface of her mind, though naturally Éomer had matured as well during those fourteen years since their last meeting. 

 

“You have become a fine lady since you were in Rohan last time, Princess,” Éomer said with a gentle smile.        


End file.
